Four months of peace
by Mr ABC123
Summary: The story shows how everyone is doing at Lake Tramonto and in Perdido Beach in the 'four months of peace' which comes after PLAGUE
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sam jumped off his houseboat onto the dock, trying not to make much noise so that he wouldn't wake Dekka or Edilio.

It was three in the morning. He was so tired that his eyes were stinging, but he just couldn't go back to bed. This had happened every night for the past week. He would wake up in the middle of the night, longing for her. He needed her.

Astrid Ellison. The only girl he ever loved.

As much as he hated to admit it, Sam had never felt like this before. He had never felt so...abandoned. He had had a taster of that feeling when his step-dad left, but it wasn't this bad.

He felt so pathetic.

Suddenly he heard a noise behind him, like twigs breaking. He quickly turned around with his hands up, ready to fire if necessary. There had been no trouble in that first week at the lake, but that didn't mean that Sam didn't expect it.

"Just me, Sam." He heard Diana's voice.

"Oh." He said, trying to mask his reaction. Relief, that it wasn't someone worse. Disappointment, that it wasn't the one person he wanted. He lit up an orb of light so that he could see her more clearly. She had dark circles around her eyes. "You should be resting." He said.

She scoffed. "Oh please, Sam. I'm pregnant. I'm not dying of a terminal illness." She paused. "At least, I hope not."

Sam smiled uncomfortably. He still didn't really know how to talk to her. She was always 'Diana the witch', and now she was 'Diana the pregnant girl who chose to stay with Sam instead of his evil twin brother'. He couldn't understand her.

"Are you OK?" Sam asked, knowing it was a stupid question. It was obvious that she wasn't. "I mean, this time last week, you were fine. And now..."

"I'm just tired." She said. "But I can't sleep." She looked up at him in the dim light. "Let me guess; you're missing Blondie."

Sam looked back at her. "Yeah." He said, trying to sound casual. "Yeah, I guess so." They fell silent for a while. "Why can't you sleep?" He asked.

Diana took a deep breath. Sam was awkwardly aware that this was the first actual conversation they ever had. "I thought I could change him, Sam." There was no doubt that 'him' referred to. "He said he'd change. For me. And then he turned into a jerk again." She paused, thinking. "You know he actually forced me off that island? I could have been perfectly happy there. He forced me to join him so I could be a 'queen' in his pathetic little kingdom."

Sam didn't know what to say. Her speech was so full of resentment, of anger. "I'm sorry." He said.

Diana laughed, but it was a bitter sound. "Maybe I chose the wrong brother."

He smiled, but quickly changed the subject. "Isn't it kind of weird that..." He stopped himself. They weren't really friends, but he still didn't want to worry her.

"What?" She asked, curious. "Tell me."

Sam paused before speaking. "It's just that...you said he forced you to join him, right? He knows by now that you've left. So why hasn't he come back for you yet?"

Diana smiled sadly, staring across the lake. "You should know by now that Caine never does what you expect him to do."

Dekka woke up early the next morning. She looked out of the small window in her room and saw all the other boats lined up along the dock. She wondered idly whether Brianna was still asleep.

Dekka went out into the living room area of the boat and saw Sam crashing on the sofa. She smiled fondly. He never ended up sleeping in his own bed, even though she and Edilio had given him the master bedroom. She found a blanket and threw it over him.

She went outside and breathed in the beautifully fresh air. It was easy to pretend that she was on some camping trip to the lake, but the FAYZ wall was still visible. It was a constant reminder of where they were.

Dekka sat on the dock and dipped her feet in the cool water.

As much as she had been heartbroken by that fact that Brianna was avoiding her, she thought that maybe she could be happy. It was a nice life, there at the lake.

Then she noticed Diana, who was also sitting on a large rock nearby. She looked so tired.

But then Dekka told herself that she shouldn't be worrying. She remembered that from the beginning Diana had always been cruel to her. She had always been on Caine's side. No matter how many lives he took, no matter how many horrible crimes he committed, she was always on his side.

But Dekka's anger didn't last long.

She had noticed Brianna jumping out of her boat, with Jack not far behind.

Diana was tired.

But 'tired' was an understatement.

She was exhausted. She knew it would not be long before she passed out.

She had seen Dekka staring at her. Not with sympathy, with hate. A lot of people hated Diana.

She finally stood up after hours of sitting by the lake and headed to her own boat. Her own, lonely boat. Sam had insisted that she stay in a boat instead of a tent, so that she would be comfortable. But no one else had volunteered to stay with her, and she wasn't pathetic enough to ask anyone, so she chose the smallest one and lived there alone.

She had thought that breaking away from Caine; power-hungry, over-ambitious Caine, she would be free. Free to make her own choices without having her life revolving around his. And there were good people at the lake; people like Sam, Dekka, Sanjit. People who could help her when she had her baby.

She was actually excited when she first arrived at the lake.

But the more she stayed there, the more alone she felt. And she hated her small, isolated boat. So she found herself awake most nights, outside, by the lake.

Diana lay down on her bed and tried to let sleep take her. She was starting to worry herself.

She knew that she had to stop being like this, otherwise she would start going crazy. People would start laughing at her as well as hate her. And she had a baby on the way.

Diana groaned. She knew it was going to be difficult. But she knew that if there was anything that would redeem her from what she had done in the past, it was raising a good kid.

She finally felt her thoughts blur together as she fell asleep.

Caine looked at the room around him. He had lost it. Again.

He hoped that Turk wouldn't tell anyone else about Caine's fits of temper. He had to be a good king. But then again, Turk was someone who was so scared of Caine that he wouldn't say a word.

Caine left the trashed up room.

He only ever lost control after he had been thinking about her. After he had thought about her and dreamed about her.

He had thought that no matter how many people abandoned him; his birth-parents, his foster-parents...he always thought that he would still have Diana.

And then she left him.

He had given her some time. He thought she would get over it; she would realise that she belonged with him, and would come back. She had gotten over it before.

But a few days had turned into a week. There was still no sign of her.

Caine walked back into the trashed up room, where Turk was now cleaning up after him. "Turk." He said. "Go get Taylor. I need to speak with her."

It was time to get Diana back.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Taylor woke up that morning to see Turk's tired face. She sat up, dazed from being asleep.

"What do you want?" She asked bluntly. If she didn't like someone, she didn't hide it. And she definitely didn't like Turk.

"Caine wants you." He said quietly. He always looked defeated nowadays.

"But it's like, seven am." She said, annoyed. "Caine's going to have to wait."

She lay back down and closed her eyes. Turk didn't move.

"King Caine doesn't wait for anyone." He said. "You should know that." Then he left.

Taylor sat up again and rolled her eyes. Sure, she did get her rewards, but working for Caine could be a pain in the backside. She took her own time getting ready and then bounced into the town hall, where Caine lived.

"Taylor." She heard his voice behind her and turned around quickly.

"This better be worth it. I'm losing my beauty sleep." She crossed her arms.

Caine waited in silence until Taylor remembered. "Oh, right." She realised. She bowed. "Good morning, your majesty." She said in a falsely innocent voice.

He smiled, but his eyes were still cold. "You need to go to the lake."

She laughed. "Are you being serious? I'm not going there. What if I get caught?"

"Don't get caught. Don't let anyone see you. I just need you to bring someone back."

Taylor looked at him patronizingly. "You know she won't come, right?"

Caine ignored her. "I don't care how you make it happen. Do whatever you have to do. Just make sure you bring her back." Taylor didn't look too happy about it, but she nodded. She was about to bounce when he spoke again. "And Taylor, if you come back here without her, there'll consequences."

Taylor sighed. She bowed again. "Yes, your majesty." She bounced back to her room.

Poor Diana, she thought.

Sam and Edilio were eating dried apricots for breakfast. It was still such a novelty; they enjoyed every second of it. They barely exchanged two words whilst eating.

"Is Dekka OK?" Edilio asked after they finished. She barely ever hung out with them.

Sam was careful not to say anything he shouldn't. "I think she's upset about something. I'll try talking to her."

They had left the boat and were now walking towards the forest, carrying some shovels.

"Are you OK?" Edilio looked concerned. As much as Sam had tried to hide it, the change in him was still noticeable.

Sam smiled. "I miss her." He said. He didn't want to say her name. "I guess I spend every day hoping she'll come back. I mean, how long can she survive on her own, out in the middle of nowhere?"

Edilio patted him on the back. "Don't worry, man. She'll come back when she's ready."

Sam smiled back at him, but he wasn't convinced. Edilio was the only person he had told about Astrid killing Little Pete.

They finally stopped walking when they knew that they were far enough from the lake. They started digging another slit trench.

"What about you?" Sam asked.

"Huh?"

"Are you OK?"

Edilio laughed. "Yeah, I guess."

Sam looked sincere. "You spend so much time looking after other people; you need to look after yourself, too."

"You can talk." Edilio smiled. Then he stopped digging. "Actually, Sam, I'm really missing Caine." They laughed.

Sam missed Astrid, a lot. But he was also kind of happy, right where he was.

Lana drank her Pepsi happily. She drank it so fast that it burned her throat. She still wasn't over the fact that there was plenty more where it came from.

She went outside and joined Sanjit, who was whistling as he sat with his legs in the water.

"Morning Grumpy." He said.

"Grumpy?"

"You know, like from Snow White. The dwarf. I think you'd be Grumpy." He beamed at her.

Lana tried not to smile back. "I'm not going to question how you know so much about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

"Hey, I have two little sisters. They used to watch it all the time."

"Didn't mean you had to watch it with them."

Sanjit laughed. "OK, fine. You caught me. I have a passion for Disney."

They fell silent, but it wasn't awkward. It was never really awkward between them.

"I checked on Bowie just now." Lana said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I think he's completely recovered."

Sanjit smiled. "That's what I thought, but thanks for checking anyway." He liked that she cared that much. He watched her as she looked out onto the lake.

Lana sighed. "You're doing it again."

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Staring. You know, normal people actually know that staring is rude." She said.

He laughed. "Yeah, because you're the epitome of normal."

She took a deep breath of the fresh air. She felt different to how she usually did. She felt less...weighed down. As if the Darkness which had touched her mind more than once was finally at rest.

She felt peaceful.

Howard was left with nothing. Not even one drop.

Sam had gone and confiscated all his alcohol so that people would stop getting drunk, and he was too far away from Coates to go and make some more.

Orc was now in a permanently bad mood. He wanted to be alone most days.

So Howard walked out onto the marina and looked around, wondering who he would go and annoy.

That was when he saw Dekka sitting on the edge of the lake, with her feet in the water. He walked up to her.

"T'sup, sister." He said, making himself comfortable next to her.

She turned to him, annoyed. "I'm not your sister."

"Oh, come on, Dekka. We're both black; we're the minority here. We've gotta stick together. And it's not like you can be my girlfriend, seeing as...you know..."

She rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Howard?"

He raised his hands defensively. "Who said I wanted everything? You know, I'm kind of sick of everyone judging me as some kind of user."

Dekka took a deep breath. "I heard that when Albert was dying, you would only save him if you got some kind of reward."

Howard paused at that. "Yeah, well...you know what they say. Every man for himself." He stopped again, suddenly realising. "Hey, I never got a reward..."

Dekka stood up. "And that's where this conversation ends." She started walking back to her boat, but Howard just followed her.

"Hey, wait up!" She turned around to face him, irritated. "OK," he said, "maybe I do kind of want a favour. You see, the thing is, I know you and Sam are kind of like 'BFF's or whatever those sixth-graders call it. But Sam went and took away all my alcohol, so-"

"No way." Dekka interrupted. "I'm not convincing him to give you your alcohol."

Suddenly Sam appeared behind her with Edilio, both of them carrying shovels. "Dekka, is Howard annoying you?" Sam asked.

"Nah," Howard said, "Dekka and I are practically related. Which is why she'll, er, think about my proposition." He winked at Dekka and walked away.

Sam went up to Dekka. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you." He said. Edilio took a hint and went inside.

Dekka smiled. "Is this gonna be one of those embarrassing pep talks?"

"I just want to know how you're doing. You know, after..."

She sighed. "Brianna doesn't even look at me anymore. I mean, I get that I made it a bit awkward, but she could at least pretend that it never happened." She looked sad. "Oh, God. I wish I could take it all back."

Sam tried to be comforting, but he wasn't sure how. "She'll come around. She's probably just...confused, I guess."

Dekka didn't reply, so Sam started to walk away. Then he turned back. "Are you still up for this afternoon? You don't have to come if you don't want to."

She smiled at him. "No, it's fine. Who else can actually carry a train-car full of missiles?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Brianna was eating some crackers - which were stale, but good enough - when Sam knocked on the door of her boat.

She had opened the door in the blink of an eye. "Hi, Sam." She said brightly.

Sam jumped onto the boat. "Hey. Is Jack around as well?"

Brianna sighed. "Yeah. I bet he's reading an old comic or something. You know he brought them all with him?" She sounded disgusted. "I'll go get him."

All Sam saw was a blur and she was gone. He waited patiently, looking around him. It was evident that this was where Jack lived. Everything looked normal at first, but when you looked closer you could see dents in the furniture and random broken items.

Brianna blurred back into sight, with Jack a few feet behind. "Hi." He said to Sam.

"I need a favour from you guys." Sam said.

Brianna looked eager. "Sure. What do you need?"

"Some of us are going back to that train and bringing back the rest of the supplies, and we're going to shift those missiles. It's too dangerous to just leave them there. It would be great if you guys could come. Jack, you'd be carrying them away, and Brianna, you'd be running back and forth between the train and the lake, carrying some supplies." Sam smiled when he saw the excited look on Brianna's face. It was obvious that she hadn't done anything remotely interesting in the past week. Jack, on the other hand, looked slightly irritated that he had work to do.

"Cool." Brianna said. "When are we leaving?"

Sam thought about that. "Say, around, three? I'm not sure how long it will take to move all of it."

"That's fine." She replied. "Who else is going?"

Sam didn't want to make it awkward. Then again, Brianna didn't know that he knew about Dekka saying that she loved her. "The three of us, Dekka, Orc and Edilio." He couldn't read Brianna's reaction when he said 'Dekka'.

Then Jack spoke. "Edilio? Why him?"

Sam shrugged. "He wants to help." He paused, waiting for them to ask him anything more, but they didn't. "Anyways, I should get going." He gave a weak wave and left.

Taylor was able to bounce quite far up the highway, so she didn't have to walk that far to the lake. It helped a lot that she could bounce as far as she could see. It meant that she was bouncing along the path more than walking it.

She suddenly had an awful thought. What if she ran into Drake? No one actually knew what had happened to him. The last place he had been seen was at Coates. He could be anywhere. She looked around her quickly, paranoid. She knew that she could just bounce away if she ran into him, but it still scared the hell out of her.

She wanted to get to the lake before it got dark, but she still didn't know how she would find Diana. She had heard that it was a big lake, with loads of boats and tents. She could hardly knock on everyone's door and ask if Diana was there.

Then again, she wasn't sure if Diana had any friends to be with. All the people at the lake were hardly people she would usually hang out with.

In a way, Taylor was actually excited. She would enjoy threatening Diana. After everything she had done, it was time to give a bit of payback.

Sam, Edilio, Dekka, Jack and Brianna had all gathered at the FAYZ wall, on the opposite side of the lake. The only person missing was Orc.

They were just about to give up and leave without him when they felt rather than heard him approach. There were deep vibrations in the ground as he took each step.

Howard was with him.

"Oh, for the love of God." Dekka sighed.

"T'sup, guys. I decided to join you all and make this a much more pleasant trip." He said happily.

Sam looked at him sternly. "Howard, I'm being serious, if you say even one word out of line-"

"Whoa, whoa," Howard interrupted him. "Let's not get stressed out, Sammy. I'm sensing some negativity here."

Sam rolled his eyes, but he ignored Howard and turned to the others. "We should make a move, otherwise it'll get dark before we come back."

They walked together like a kind of procession; Sam, Edilio and Dekka at the front, Jack and Brianna behind them, and Orc and Howard at the back.

Dekka turned to Sam. "You could've told me Brianna was coming!" She whispered.

Sam smiled guiltily. "I didn't want you to freak out." He said.

"Well, I am freaking out! This better not be awkward." She sounded irritated, but he looked at her and she was smiling. "Thank you for caring, though."

Diana woke up later that evening. She realised with surprise that she had slept the whole day.

She automatically dropped her hand to her stomach. Yes, it was still there. She could still feel her baby's power.

She went outside. There were some kids playing around further down the dock. Others were sitting by the lake and talking. They looked happy.

A part of her wanted to go up to them. Talk to them.

But they were scared of her.

She remembered a time when she loved the way that people looked at her in fear. She loved that fact that they were intimidated.

And now she wished that they looked at her as a normal person, not an evil, manipulative witch. No one really knew her. Caine didn't know her.

She didn't even know herself.

All she did know was that she was going to be a good mother.

Diana turned suddenly. She was sure she had heard a noise behind her. But no one was there. Maybe she was getting paranoid. People were still kind of expecting Drake to turn up.

She thought about going to see Sam. Not for protection, just for company. But she knew that he didn't really like hanging out with her.

She went back inside and looked for something to eat. She hadn't eaten in a while, and she was suddenly hit with a pang of hunger. She ate some crackers and some dried apricots that Sam had left her.

Then she heard the floor creak behind her. She quickly turned around, her heart suddenly beating fast.

It was only Taylor. Diana started laughing for the first time in what felt like ages.

Taylor looked annoyed. "What's so funny?"

"You. I thought you were Drake or someone." She laughed again.

Taylor wasn't smiling. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Diana stopped laughing, and stared at Taylor. "What are you doing?" She stared at the knife. It was a pen-knife, and had opened up to be long and thin.

"Caine wants you back, Diana." Taylor said, slowly coming closer.

"Alive or dead?" She scoffed, hiding her fear well.

Taylor smirked. "He said to do whatever I had to. So are you going to come willingly?"

"You're not going to kill me. Or even stab me. We both know that." Diana said as confidently as she could.

Taylor laughed. "Do you remember when you encased my hands in concrete? And when you watched as the coyotes came and the fire was burning and people died?" She was breathing heavily. "I think you underestimate me, Diana. Anyway, Caine told me that I have to bring you back, otherwise there'll be consequences. And I don't like consequences."

Diana was silent. She couldn't tell whether Taylor was bluffing or not. She saw to her right that her window was open. She could easily shout for help. But then Taylor would think she was weak.

She wasn't weak.

"Well, Caine's going to be sincerely disappointed." Diana tried to smirk. "I'm not going back, Taylor. And you should have known that by staying with Caine there would always be consequences." She paused, suddenly thinking of another idea. "You don't have to go back, you know. Sam would forgive you. And Astrid's no longer in picture..."

She trailed off to let that sink in with Taylor.

Then Taylor scoffed. "Nice try. But I'm perfectly fine at Perdido Beach."

Diana didn't know what else to say to that, so they stared at each other in silence. She wondered if she should tell Taylor that she was pregnant. Surely she wouldn't hurt her then? But she knew that Caine would end up hearing about it, and she didn't want him to have anything to do with her child.

Then Taylor spoke. "I'm not leaving without you, Diana." She was still clutching her knife.

She wouldn't, Diana thought; she's too weak.

Diana glanced at her door. All she had to do was run outside. Taylor would bounce, but she could at least try to run away. Sam would be around, or someone.

She looked out of her window, trying to look distracted, and then suddenly ran for the door.

Too slow.

Jack picked up the first missile carefully and carried it away to the large hole in the ground, which had been dug up a few days earlier. Edilio and Sam had thought it would be best to bury them. At first they had thought that Sam could just burn them up, but they weren't sure if the missiles would explode.

Orc, Jack and Dekka set to work carrying each missile, whilst Brianna took a large box containing lots of nutella and started running back to the lake.

She didn't take that long to get there. She ran along the FAYZ wall so that she wouldn't get lost, and once she reached the lake, she ran around it to Sam's boat. She quickly put the box down in his living room and bolted it out the door. She was about to run around the lake again when she suddenly skidded to a stop.

Did she hear a scream?

She ran back towards the lined up boats, slower this time, so that she could investigate. She started with the smallest boat, and then, after a pause, decided to knock on the door. "Hello?" She called out. No answer.

But then she heard a small whimper from inside. She suddenly remembered that this was Diana's boat. "Diana? Are you...OK?" She called. "Open the door."

There was still no answer. Brianna thought that maybe she should just leave. Maybe she had imagined the whimper.

But she was pretty sure she had heard the scream. "Diana, open the door." She said more urgently. Brianna didn't know much about pregnancy, but she knew that something must be wrong for her to be screaming.

Then she noticed the open window. She climbed as fast and as smoothly as she could. It was dark in there.

But she still saw Taylor, who had a shocked expression on her face.

She was holding a bloody knife.

"What did you-" Brianna stopped. She saw Diana curled up on the ground. She was pale, and bleeding a lot. "Oh God."

Diana was crying softly. "Get Lana." She whispered. Brianna looked up. Taylor had already disappeared.

It took Taylor a while to find Lana. She bounced into every boat, surprising many people, until she found her.

Lana was lying on her bed, with Patrick next to her. "Taylor?" She looked confused. Then she saw the bloody knife that Taylor was holding.

"I didn't mean to do it." She said loudly.

Taylor ran with Lana to Diana's boat, instead of bouncing.

Lana knelt down next to Diana and put her hands on the wound. It was deep. She had been stabbed in the stomach. In the lower stomach.

Diana was sobbing now. "It's getting weaker. I can barely feel it." Her hands were over her womb. "Save it." She said to Lana.

Lana looked uncomfortable. "I can't - I can't cure...if it's already dying, I can't cure that. I'm sorry." Diana cried even harder. Brianna and Taylor were both watching in shock. They had never seen Diana this way.

Then Taylor stepped forward. "Wait - 'it'? What are you talking about?"

Diana moaned. She suddenly looked weak. "Make her go away." She whispered to Lana.

Taylor suddenly put two and two together. "Oh, my God. She's pregnant."

Lana turned towards her. "Look, Taylor. You're not exactly helping right now."

"Does Caine know?"

Brianna folded her arms and faced Taylor. "Why don't you just crawl back into your little hole with Caine? We don't need you here." She stared hard at Taylor.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Taylor said shakily. She glanced again at Diana and bounced back to the Town Plaza at Perdido Beach.

She stood there for some time. The past five minutes had felt like a dream.

Did she really just stab Diana? Pregnant Diana?

Taylor could barely remember what she had done. It had all merged into one big blur. But she knew that she had to put it right.

She went to find Caine.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

They had finished what they had to do at the train. But there was still no sign of Brianna.

Edilio looked over at Sam. "She knew she had to come back, right?"

"Yeah. I'm sure she did." He nodded. It worried him that she wasn't back yet. The Breeze never did anything slow. "Maybe we should start walking back. We might meet her on the way."

Dekka looked at him. "What if she's hurt or something?"

Sam didn't answer, but he knew that it was very likely. Either that, or there was trouble at the lake.

They started walking quickly. At a faster pace, it didn't take that long to reach the lake.

They looked around. Everything seemed fine. People were acting normal. They started walking around the lake and walked into Sanjit.

"Hey," Sam called, "have you seen Brianna?"

Sanjit looked uncomfortable. "She might be on Diana's boat. With Lana."

"Why is she on Diana's boat?" He asked. Something was definitely wrong. "What happened?"

"All I saw was that girl that 'bounces'. She came in here, and her and Lana ran to Diana's boat."

Then Dekka spoke. "Wait, Taylor was here?"

Sanjit nodded. He looked at Sam. "I think you should go there." Sam looked at the others. They were all waiting for him to move.

He started walking to Diana's boat. Then he started running, but he still dreaded what he might see. He knocked on the door and then opened it without waiting for a reply. It was dark inside. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the lack of light, and then he noticed the three figures on the ground.

Lana looked up at him. "Taylor stabbed her."

"What?" Sam asked, shocked. "Why?"

She sighed. "I think it was Caine's way of sending a message."

Realisation dawned on Sam. He felt stupid for not expecting something like this. He should have given Diana more protection. Lana started speaking again. "She's almost healed. She fell asleep a while ago. Or passed out. I'm not really sure." She looked upset.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Lana didn't answer, so Brianna replied for her. "We think it's dead." She said quietly.

Sam looked at Diana. She seemed quite healthy, but then again, that was because she was half-healed. "Should I switch the light on?"

"No," Lana replied. "You might wake her up."

Sam sat down on the ground next to them. He wasn't sure how he felt.

When he found out that Diana was pregnant, all he felt was dread. Another mouth to feed. Another person to look after. What did any of them know about raising a child? It seemed like an impossible challenge. No kid should be born and raised in the FAYZ. Surely he should feel relief?

But now he felt...sorrow. As if it had been his loss as much as Diana's. He was sure that Brianna and Lana felt the same. Only the older people at the lake knew about her pregnancy. They would all feel the same.

And Diana would feel worse.

Taylor found Caine in his usual place in the Town hall. He had made his own little office, seeing as the mayor's office was where the bugs had eaten up Roscoe. That room no longer seemed like a very comfortable place. Caine sat up expectantly when he saw her.

"Well?" He asked firmly.

Taylor looked down at the ground. "I couldn't bring her."

Caine was immediately furious. "I told you there would be consequences."

"She was hurt." She said quietly.

"What?"

Taylor repeated herself. Then she became aware that she was still holding the bloody knife. She held it behind her back so that he wouldn't see.

But Caine had seen. "What did you do?" He asked in a low voice.

Taylor knew she had seconds before he completely lost it. She was thinking about bouncing away, but she had wanted to put it right. Caine needed to know. So she looked up at him calmly, and said, "Diana's pregnant."

Lana had finally finished healing Diana. Brianna left. And then Lana stood up slowly and left herself, not saying anything to Sam.

She walked past Edilio. "What happened?" He asked.

"Diana's OK." She said vaguely. Then she turned back to him. "Give her one of your guns." She didn't wait for a reply, but walked onto her boat. Sanjit was there, with Virtue. They were putting their younger siblings to sleep.

"Are you alright?" Sanjit asked her. She didn't answer, but went into her room and sat down on her bed. He followed her in there.

She still had blood on her hands.

"I don't think I saved it." She said quietly.

Sanjit took a while to answer. "The baby?"

She nodded. "I don't even know why I feel like this. I mean, it's not the first time I haven't been able to save someone." She sighed. "It's just a bunch of cells. It's not even a baby yet."

Sanjit put his arm around her. "I guess it was kind of exciting. You're just disappointed, that's all." He kissed her on the cheek. Then, sensing that she needed to be alone, he left.

Diana woke up and jolted upright. She was lying on her bed. Her hand went immediately to her stomach.

"I think you should go back to sleep." She heard Sam's voice, and looked at him in shock. "I'm sorry, Diana." He said quietly. "But you should rest now."

She shook her head. "I'm fine." But she lay back down anyway.

"Do you want anything? Are you cold? Wait, have you eaten?" Sam asked, concerned.

She half-smiled. "I'm fine, Sam. You don't need to look after us."

He looked up. "Us?"

"I can feel it. It's still there." She said, smiling properly now. "I can feel it."

Sam was in shock. He couldn't believe it. All that sadness he had felt was for nothing. "It's alive?" He asked stupidly. He already knew the answer.

"Yes." She said happily. She laughed gently when she saw the shock on his face.

They both fell silent. Then he stood up. "I think I should tell the others. Everyone was kind of...down about it."

"Really?" She seemed surprised. "They don't exactly like me."

Sam looked down at her. "You should make more of an effort to get to know them. Most people are kind of intimidated by you, but if you actually talk to them..." He trailed off. He realised that she had just gone through a traumatic experience and it sounded a lot like he was scolding her. "Oh, Edilio left you a present, by the way." He pointed to her bedside table.

Diana saw the pistol and picked it up. "Thanks." She said quietly, feeling it in her hands.

Sam walked outside. It was late in the evening now. Most people had gone to sleep. He went and sat by the water's edge.

So the FAYZ was going to grow by one, after all. Before, he didn't know how he felt about that. But now he felt happy.

His own father had left him. But he wouldn't let this kid grow up without a Dad.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Caine left Perdido Beach. He knew that he shouldn't have; he was king after all, but he needed answers. So he told Albert to hold the fort, and left.

It was night-time. Albert had given him a map, but it wasn't very good. It was a stupid idea; leaving when it was still dark.

He found a truck which still had some gas, and drove it as far as he could up the highway. He got out and started walking up what he hoped was the right path. He walked for what felt like hours. He was glad when he finally saw what looked like a building up ahead. It must have been the Air Base compound.

As he walked, thought. And thought. And thought.

Soon Caine was sick of thinking. He knew that Diana must be fine by now; Taylor had told him that Lana was healing her.

But he was very confused. Diana couldn't be pregnant. He was sure that starving girls couldn't get pregnant. But then, she had got healthier on the island...

He tried to block it out of his mind. He was only fifteen. He was a king, not a teen dad.

And anyway, he doubted it would survive in the FAYZ, where everyone was constantly close to starving.

He hoped it wouldn't survive.

It was very late at night. Toto sat in his tent, alone with Spidey. He didn't like it much there at the lake. It was much more peaceful back at the compound. He was happier there.

He unzipped his tent and went outside. He saw what they called 'Sammy Suns' dotted around the lake, giving out some comforting light.

Toto looked at Spidey. Spidey was saying that they should go back to the compound. "Yes, I agree."

So Toto started walking. He knew the general direction; he had walked from there to the lake before. The darkness of the night started to scare him, but he was with Spidey, so it wasn't too bad.

He walked and walked and walked.

Finally, he passed the train. He took two Pepsi's and some nutella for him and Spidey, and walked the rest of the way back to the compound.

Then he saw someone else in the dim moonlight. Just the shadow of a figure. Toto looked at Spidey and nodded. Spidey was right. They should go inside and get away from the stranger.

It didn't take long for Toto to find his old room. He went there and sat in the darkness, drinking his Pepsi. Spidey still hadn't touched his Pepsi.

Then he heard a noise. Hide!, said Spidey. So Toto quickly went under his bed.

The door burst open.

"Who's there?" Called the voice. Toto recognised that voice. It was Caine.

He didn't like Caine. He heard him come in.

Then suddenly the bed lifted. Toto was no longer hidden. "Get up." Caine ordered. Toto stood up and moved so that he wasn't standing under his bed, which dropped back into place. Caine stared at him for a while, so that Toto and Spidey felt quite uncomfortable.

"You're the truth-teller." Caine said.

"Yes. That is true." He replied.

Caine paused before he spoke again. "What do you know?" He said quietly, more to himself than to Toto.

"I know what is true." Toto said. He wasn't sure what Caine was doing.

Caine took a long time to speak again. "Diana is pregnant."

Toto answered quickly as usual. "Yes, yes. That is true. The pregnant one."

Caine looked like he was in shock. But he spoke again. "She is happy at the lake."

Toto took a while to answer. "Yes. She is happy. Sometimes she is happy."

Caine looked angry at that answer. Toto hoped he would leave soon. But then Caine said, "I'm staying here tonight. And tomorrow, you're coming with me. We're going to the lake."

Toto shook his head. "I'm not going back to the lake. This is my home."

Caine glared at him. Toto felt a little scared. "You will come with me." He said more forcefully.

Toto nodded. Caine left his room. He heard Caine go into the room next to his.

Spidey wasn't very happy "Neither am I." Said Toto.

Sam had an extra bedroom on his boat. It was small, but he thought it would do.

So the next morning, he went and asked Diana to live with them. She looked reluctant. "You don't need to worry about me, Sam." She had said.

Sam smiled. "Stop being such a loner. You'll be safer if you live with us. And then if you have any problems, me or Edilio or Dekka will just be in the next room."

It didn't take much to have her convinced. Only Dekka didn't seem too sure. She still hadn't forgotten everything that Diana had done.

Diana only had a bag-full of belongings to move from her boat to Sam's, so she moved in straight away.

Edilio and Dekka were in the living room, awkwardly waiting to greet her. She laughed in their faces. "What is this, some kind of ceremony?"

Dekka turned to Edilio, already irritated. "Yup, she's still the same Diana."

"Come on, guys," Sam said calmly, "let's all be friendly here."

Edilio raised hands, defensive. "Hey, don't look at me. It was Dekka." Dekka elbowed him playfully. Sam was glad that they had become friends; the two of them never used to hang out together.

He turned to Diana. "Your room's over there." He said, gesturing towards one of the doors. She smiled and took her bag to her new room.

Dekka waited until the door was shut before she spoke. "What's up with this, Sam? Is this you playing hero again?"

Sam could tell that she was more annoyed than she looked. "Look, I know you don't like her, but she needs our help. I mean, she's pregnant. We can't just let her go through that on her own."

Dekka folded her arms. "I don't see what difference it makes if she's a few metres away on her own boat. We'll still see her, like, everyday."

"Dekka, what if Taylor comes back? Or worse, Caine? What's she going to do then?"

Dekka sighed. "OK, I get that yesterday was traumatising for her. And I feel sorry for her. But she has a gun now, and we'll be around-"

"We weren't around today." Sam said. He realised that he was getting angry, but he didn't really understand why. "She's staying here, whether you like it or not. I'm not letting her or that kid get hurt while we just stand by."

Dekka scoffed. "Really, Sam? Because it seems to me like you're the only person who wants her here. Which makes me question whether you really do miss Astrid."

She regretted it as soon as she said it. Edilio shuffled on his feet nervously.

Sam stared at her for a while. Then he stormed off to his room and slammed the door.

"Nice one," Edilio said quietly.

Diana had heard the argument. The argument about her.

She wasn't sure if she felt guilty or not.

She slowly opened her bedroom door. Dekka and Edilio were still standing in the living area, in silence. They stared at her as she walked out.

"I'm just getting some air." She said, and jumped out onto the dock. She went and looked out over the lake. Some kids had only just woken up, climbing out of their tents and boats.

It would take some time to get people on her side. But she was sure she could do it.

It was then that she saw him. Caine. He was with someone else...was it Toto?

He was staring at her. She stared back, not sure if she was imagining it. But it was definitely him. Then he looked at the forest meaningfully, and walked towards the trees.

So he wanted to talk.

Did he know? Did Taylor tell him? She hoped not. She wondered whether he would hurt her. He had threatened to do it before.

She went back inside, where it was safer.

Diana didn't want to go. But she knew from experience that it was always better to go to Caine rather than him searching you out.

So she took her gun and headed towards the forest.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7Sam was still fuming. All he had wanted to do was help Diana. What was so wrong about that?Of course he missed Astrid. He missed her day and night. But digging slit trenches and getting supplies from the train and helping Diana; they all took his mind off her. He hated obsessing over her the way heard a knock at the door, but didn't answer. He wanted to be left alone so that he could calm opened the door. "Sam?" He ignored her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." She said. "I guess I'm just upset a lot these days."Sam still didn't look at her. "Yeah, you're not the only one."She came and sat down on his bed. "I really am sorry." She said looked up. "It's OK. It just hit a nerve, that's all."She smiled at him, and they sat in silence for a while. "Anyway, I'm OK with Diana staying here." Dekka said. "But I think she heard us arguing."Sam looked at her. "How do you know?"She shrugged. "I mean, I don't know for sure. But she went for a walk just now. I saw her going to the forest.""To the forest?" He asked. "Did she look upset?"Dekka shrugged again. "I'll go talk to her, if you like.""Really?" Sam asked, surprised she even offered. Dekka smiled. "I guess the least I can do is try and make an effort. We're going to be living together, after all." She stood up and smiled. He was glad he had a friend like found him waiting for her by a tree. He still had Toto with was staring at her accusingly. "When did you find out you were pregnant?" He asked bluntly, skipping any glanced at Toto. He would sell her out if she lied. But what did she have to lose by telling the truth? "When we were on the island." She said confidently. She didn't want Caine thinking she was weak."That is true." Toto looked confused. "That's impossible. You couldn't have known then."Diana didn't answer. She didn't want Caine to know that their baby had a power."How did you know?" He said more took a deep breath. "I felt it." They both looked at Toto, who nodded looked suspicious. "What do you mean, you felt it?"She shrugged, trying to look casual. "I just felt it was there.""Is that the full truth?" He asked. Diana nodded. He came a step closer. "Say it." He ordered."Yes."But Toto shook his head. "No, that is a lie."Diana sighed. "Caine, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to come to the lake unless there's an emergency."He smiled slyly. "I never do what I'm told."Diana shook her head. "I'm happy here, Caine. So leave me alone." She turned to walk away, but he quickly grabbed her arm."You're coming back with me." He said snatched her arm back. "No! After the way you treated me, you seriously think that I'm going to go running back to you?"Caine was getting angry. "I saved your life, more than once!" He shouted, not caring if people heard. He could easily deal with eavesdroppers. "Diana, you're carrying my kid. And if you're not coming with me willingly, I'll just have to force you." He raised his hands towards her. She tried to back away in time, but suddenly she couldn't move her pulled out her gun from her back pocket and pointed it towards him, taking off the safety lock. "Put your hands down." She said, a bit more shakily than she laughed at her. "You're not going to shoot me, Diana. I'm the father of your child.""No," Diana said angrily, "as far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to do with my child."Caine looked furious at first, but then he stared at her daringly. Daring her to pull the suddenly Caine started floating. Diana looked around and saw Dekka behind her. Dekka raised Caine high enough that if he fell, he would be badly injured. "Try anything, and you fall." She shouted up at him."What are you going to do, keep me up here for the rest of your life? Put me down, Dekka." He said firmly."Only if you get out of here and leave us alone." Dekka called up to smiled. "Fine." He turned to Diana. "Keep your gun ready." She whispered. Diana held it tightly, and Dekka dropped rather than placed Caine back on the smiled at happened in an instant. He threw both Dekka and Diana backwards, and as soon as Diana was on the ground he levitated the gun away from her. Then he held both Diana and Dekka in place, so that neither of them could move, and Dekka couldn't even move her hands to face him."Diana, you're coming with me." He said in a low of them even noticed that Toto had definitely didn't like Caine. And as he walked away from the forest, Spidey told him that he should get help. He had heard about Caine hurting people, and he didn't want to see those girls get hurt. "Yes, I agree." Toto told he went to Sam's boat and knocked on the door.A boy called Edilio answered. "You're Toto, aren't you?" He said."That is true." Toto replied. Edilio went and brought Sam, who looked surprised to find Toto there."Hey. Are you OK?" Sam shook his head. "I don't think so. Caine is in the forest with Diana and Dekka."Sam looked shocked. "Caine?" Toto nodded. Sam quickly leapt off his boat and headed towards the found the three of them easily. It looked like Caine had a hold of both Dekka and Diana. Sam stopped himself before he went charging in there. If he went from this angle, Caine would see him Sam ran quickly around the edge of the forest so he could come in from and Dekka saw him, but they both cleverly pretended not to. Sam was about to hold his up towards Caine, but then decided to take a more direct put his hand on Caine's head. "Let them go, Caine." He laughed. "I'm not leaving just yet, brother.""I can fry you in a second. I suggest you go. Now." He said more authoritatively. But Caine made no sign of stopping. "Look, Caine," Sam said, "you have the town. I have the lake. That was deal."Caine still didn't move. "Diana wasn't part of the deal. She's with me." He said sighed impatiently. "I don't love you anymore, Caine. I don't think I ever loved you. But even if I did, I still wouldn't go with you. You're sick and evil and twisted. And I don't care what you say; you're not the father of my child."Caine stared at her for a while. At least a few minutes. Sam wasn't sure if he was going to hurt her or not, but he was ready to act if he Caine let Dekka and Diana go. He turned to Sam. "Look after her," he said quietly, only for Sam's ears. Then he walked away, just like watched him go until they could no longer see him. He had looked defeated, but Sam knew that Caine was never defeated for long. Sam turned around. "Are you OK?" He asked both Dekka and Diana. Dekka nodded, Diana didn't say was glad that Toto wasn't around when she said that she didn't love him.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8Brianna needed some air. She was getting bored being cooped up on her little boat with Jack, who only ever read comics or played around on his many Apple Mac' she left her boat and headed towards the forest, the only place where kids tended not to go. Many of them were scared that Drake would come suddenly realised that she wasn't running. She was walking at a normal pace, which was strange, seeing as she had no one to wait for. She kept going at that same pace. Brianna was so used to doing everything fast; she thought that sometimes she needed to just slow walked and walked through the forest, until she turned around with a start. She was sure she had heard someone behind her. "Who's there?" She called appeared from behind a tree. "Brianna? It's only me." She stared in shock. "Were you following me?" She accused. Dekka didn't answer straight away. "Oh, my God. You were following me, weren't you?"Dekka stared at her like she was crazy. "Why would I follow you?""Why else would you be this far in the forest?" Brianna backed away slightly. "Were you stalking me?"Dekka scoffed. "Believe it or not, Brianna; my whole life doesn't revolve around you. You might like to know that Caine was here, and I felt like going for a walk after dealing with him."That stopped Brianna. "Caine was here?""Don't worry," Dekka replied, "he's gone now." She paused. "And I wasn't stalking you." She said, annoyed."Sorry." Brianna said quietly. They fell into an awkward Dekka wanted some answers. "Why do you keep avoiding me?" She asked, looking at her looked surprised that she was being asked straight up. "I'm not." She looked at her. "You definitely are. I thought we were friends." She said. Brianna made no reply. "Look, I'm sorry if I...made you feel uncomfortable. But, I thought I was dying. I never would have what I did otherwise."Brianna was trying to avoid eye contact. "Are you actually...in love with me?"Dekka sighed. She was considering lying to her, but she nodded anyway. There was a long pause as neither of them spoke."I'm sorry, Dekka," said Brianna, "but I'm not gay. At least, I don't think I am. I guess I just found it weird to get my head around when you told me." She waited for her to reply, but Dekka said nothing. "And I'm kind of with Jack now. I mean, we do live together." She paused again. "Sorry."Dekka laughed. "Don't be sorry that you're with Jack. And, to be honest, yeah; it would be great if you were gay, but you're not. So the least you could do is actually carry on being my friend and drop the whole 'distant' act."Brianna looked surprised. "Oh." She said. "I didn't think you'd want to see me again."Dekka smiled. "Of course I want to see you. We're still friends. Right?"Brianna nodded. Dekka smiled again and started walking away, but Brianna called after her. "Wait, it was that easy? All I had to do was say I didn't love you back?"Dekka turned back and shrugged. "I guess." She said, and walked away again. She could suffer loving Brianna and seeing her with Jack. As long as they were , Brianna had only said that she didn't "think" she was gay. There was still went to her room and cried. She realised that she had probably cried more in the past few days than she had ever in her had been strange seeing Caine. Seeing how much he wanted her back, even it was in a twisted way. She knew he loved her, but she never knew she was that important to him. After all, he had chosen power over her walked in without knocking. Diana turned her face away, hoping that he didn't see her crying. She hated crying in front of people; it made her feel weak."Are you OK?" He quickly wiped away her tears. "That seems to be your trademark line."He smiled. "I guess seeing Caine was tough, huh?"She looked at him. "Why are you so nice to me?" He laughed. "No, I'm serious," she said, "you're the only person who actually talks to me like a normal person.""That's because you are a normal person." He replied. He sat down on her bed. "I want to help you, Diana. I mean, Caine's not going to be there, so..." He stopped himself. He didn't want to seem too imposing."So...?" Diana sighed. "I guess I just want to be there for my nephew. Or niece. You know, kind of like...a father-figure."Diana smiled. "You don't have to do that, Sam."He nodded. "I know. But you're a good person. I want to be there for you." He smiled back at her. They stared at each other for a while, before he said, "Anyways, I should probably be going. Edilio and I are going to teach some kids how to fish." He smiled again and left her lay down on her bed. She had noticed that Sam's eyes were as beautiful as Caine' waited for Sam at the edge of the dock, until he finally came out of their boat, looking distracted."You're late." He whispered to Sam as he came out. He had already handed out fishing rods to the kids."Sorry," Sam muttered. He dropped his voice so that no one else could hear. "You'll never guess who we met in the forest: Caine.""What?" Edilio said, louder than he wanted."He came back for Diana. Looks like the gun you gave her came in handy." He said. "Don't worry; Dekka and I got rid of him."Edilio looked relieved. "Thank God there wasn't a fight. Kids are still shaken up from the bugs."Sam nodded, but he knew that a fight was started running now. She was happier. She had always thought that she would never be able to face Dekka, because she would never be able to reject her. But now they were friends ran as fast as she could, loving the feeling of the wind rushing past her and the blood pumping through her legs. She didn't stop until she suddenly came to a Rey National Park. Had she really run that far? She was quite proud of was about to turn back when she saw someone in the corner of her eye, and turned to face them, prepared to run if it was Drake."Astrid?" Brianna , it was definitely her. Even though she was covered in dirt and her hair was messed up and her clothes were ripped; it was definitely was staring at Brianna like she was from another world. She didn't say anything, but stared. And then after a while, she turned and left. "Wait!" Brianna called after her, but she didn't turn wondered whether she should follow her. But Astrid looked like she was started running back to the lake. Should she tell Sam?She had heard about how much he missed her, but then again, he would only feel worse if she told Brianna decided to keep quiet.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9Taylor bounced into Diana's boat. But Diana wasn't there. It looked like no one had been there for had been a week since she had stabbed her, and Taylor had been wallowing in her guilt all that time. So she had decided it was time to apologise to Diana's usually wasn't one to apologise. But she had realised that if she didn't, she would carry on feeling as bad as she bounced around to the other boats that she saw until she found Diana. What she saw surprised her; Diana and Sam talking and laughing together. They both started when they saw her, and Sam immediately raised his hands."You're not welcome here, Taylor." He said authoritatively."I came to see Diana." She scoffed. "Really? How kind of you."Taylor shuffled her feet awkwardly. "I came to say I'm sorry.""You told Caine." Diana accused."I thought I had to!" Taylor said, looking desperate for forgiveness. "I thought it would help."Diana laughed bitterly. "You thought telling Caine would help? How the hell did you come to that conclusion?"Taylor didn't answer straight away. "I just...I thought I had killed it. Your baby. I felt terrible. So I thought, if Caine was there, it would help you. Because, you guys are sort of...together." She said sincerely. Then she stared at Sam's hands until he lowered spoke before Diana could. "Well, they aren't together anymore, seeing as he tried to force her to go back with him."Diana sighed. "Are you going to leave now?" She asked coldly. Taylor nodded, and bounced back to her room in Perdido Beach. It was strange seeing them being friendly. She had her suspicions about Diana and she decided that she would keep them quiet until she really needed a favour from wouldn't go back into the forest. She hated to admit it, but her encounter with Astrid had kind of creeped her out. She hadn't told anyone about it; not even Jack. She had thought about maybe telling Dekka, but Dekka might have told Sam and...it was all very she felt like running that evening, so Brianna had no choice but to run back and forth around the lake. She only realised she'd hit someone when she saw Sanjit on the ground, looking winded. "Sorry!" She said, and quickly helped him up."It's fine." He said. "Are you running laps?""Yep." She said laughed. "Why don't you just go to the forest?"Brianna didn't know why, but she felt like she could trust this kid. And the secret was eating her up inside. "I ran into Astrid the other day." She said looked shocked. "Astrid?" He said. "Sam's Astrid?"Brianna nodded. "I'm not really sure why I'm telling you." She said, because it was the smiled at her. "S'OK. I think you should tell Sam, though.""No," she said, "I've already thought about that. He'll go even more crazy knowing that she was around but he didn't see her. Plus, I think he'd be angry with me." She added nodded, and then crossed his heart. "Your secret's safe with me, kiddo."Brianna smiled and was about to run off again before she turned back to him. "Um, Sanjit? I know you're kind of new here, but no one calls me kiddo. No one."Sam and Diana stared at the place where Taylor had disappeared. Then he turned to her. "Are you OK?" He laughed. "Sam, seriously? You need a new catchphrase."Sam smiled. "Can you really blame me for asking? You're pregnant, you were stabbed, and you almost got kidnapped by your ex-boyfriend. Who also happens to be my evil twin brother."She smiled back at him, but she looked distracted. "I never thought I'd end up like this, you know. Eight months ago my dream was to just be manipulative me and help Caine rule over Perdido Beach." She laughed to herself. "Look at me now.""I think you're better now." Sam said. "I wish you'd turned into this version of Diana a lot sooner." He smiled at looked up at him. Then she kissed him. He kissed back at first, but he pulled away quickly and took a step back. "What did you do that for?" He asked, almost shrugged casually. "I just wanted to see."Sam stared at her. Then he shook his head. "Whatever this is, Diana, it's never going to be more than a friendship.""I know." She said was confused. "Because...I'll always be waiting for Astrid, and as much as you like to pretend, you're not over Caine.""I know." She didn't speak for many seconds. "But, you kissed me. Why did you kiss me?""I told you," she said, "I just wanted to see." She turned and walked towards her bedroom. "Well, I'm going to bed." She said. The she turned back at her door. "Anyway, you kissed me back." She winked and closed the was still utterly confused. Did that just happen? He hoped that he could pretend like it hadn't he realised with a sigh that maybe it would take a bit longer for Diana to change from her old, manipulative walked up the lonely path at night. She didn't even know to where she was walking. She just let her tired legs take her was hungry. "Hungry in the darkness." She said aloud, remembering the phrase her brother had repeated before Sam and Caine almost destroyed the dead realised she was crying again. She wanted the grief to end soon. She was sick of the despair she had killed her own brother. She had murdered someone whom she was supposed to protect. All for the bugs disappeared, but the FAYZ wall was still there, looming as heard the voice again. _Come to me_, it would say. "No!" She screamed into the night. She knew what the voice belonged to. The Darkness. She wouldn't succumb to it as she had succumbed to she carried on walking on the long path, hoping to end up anywhere. Her goal was to keep moving. As if by doing so, she could escape her subconsciously, her mind had driven her. Subconsciously, she had been she looked up, and suddenly realised she was heading towards the mine shaft.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter TenDiana grabbed onto Lana's hand as she felt another contraction, and tried to focus on her had been eight months since she had moved to the looked desperately at Lana. "Keep it inside me." She whimpered. "It's coming too early."Lana looked at her as if she was going crazy. "Diana, you know I can't do that."Dekka was facing Diana's open legs. "Oh, God. This is making me feel sick. What the hell am I supposed to do? I've only seen this happen on TV shows!" She yelled."Yeah, that's great, Dekka." Diana said sarcastically, back to her old self. "You're really helping to calm me down right now."Lana tried to loosen Diana's grip on her hand, but to no avail. She turned to her. "I think you just need to...push." Diana stared at her. "I mean it. Push! You can't keep in there forever!"Diana was horrified. "No, no, I don't want to do it! Can't you just...can't you just cut it out of me? You can heal me after! Please?" She begged Dekka spoke. "Diana, just push it out! This isn't easy for me either; I have to look at it whilst it comes out!"Diana glared at her, but then braced herself, and was pain like no other she had felt, and it lasted for so long. She was pretty sure that she had sworn profusely during the whole then she heard a baby all sighed with relief. Lana held her broken hand so that she could heal it, whilst Dekka cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the baby in a towel. "It's a boy," she said, still looking shell-shocked from the experience. She handed the baby to Diana. "Man, I know it's cute and everything, but I am so glad I'm not having children."Diana smiled as she held her crying son. She realised that she had been sweating so much that her hair was matted to her face. "He's so...bloody." She laughed; she was expecting a nicer adjective at the end of that sentence. "You need to wash him."Diana nodded. All three of them were staring at his then his face started to mouth started to become bigger, bigger, and his eyes and nose disappeared, so that his whole face was his mouth. And his teeth! He had so many sharp realised that he looked like the monster who tried to tempt them during the the mouth spoke."_Come to me_." It screamed. Someone was shaking woke up. "Dekka." She breathed as she saw her."I heard you moaning in your sleep. And then you screamed." Dekka said. She looked kind of creeped looked down at her stomach. It was flat. She wasn't eight months looked awkward. "Bad dream?" She asked."I was giving birth." Diana replied. "But it was a monster. The monster from the poof." She said quietly. Dekka didn't respond; she didn't know how dropped her hand to her stomach. She could still feel her baby's power. But somehow it was no longer comforting to woke up with a start. She was sure she had heard it. _Come to me_, it had whispered. It was invading her mind again, or at least trying looked over at Patrick in the darkness, and could see him sleeping at the end of her bed, his body slowly rising and falling as he breathed. Watching him helped to soothe her, but she still felt like getting some slowly got out of bed and creeped outside, careful not to wake everyone else on her large boat. She breathed in the fresh air and calmed herself. Perhaps she had just imagined that she had heard the she could still feel it there, restless. Waiting. Anticipating. She could still understand it somehow. And even as she tried to deny it, she knew that it was waiting for had gone back to sleep, and woke up the next morning still feeling uneasy. She walked out to the kitchen area, where Sam, Dekka and Edilio were eating makeshift breakfasts. Dekka half-smiled at Diana. Diana smiled she turned to Sam. "I'm sorry I kissed you yesterday. I was in a weird mood." She said, sitting down on one of the 's mouth fell open. Dekka dropped the cracker she was sighed. "And you couldn't have told me that in private?" He muttered back."Oh, sorry." Diana replied. She took a few crackers and went back to her and Dekka were silent for while. Then they both spoke at once."You guys kissed?""When did this happen?""Wait...are you guys together?""Oh my God, do you like her?"Sam waited until they were finished. "OK, look; nothing happened. She just kissed me for like, two seconds. And then we both pulled away. It meant _nothing_." He added clearly, making sure that they obviously didn't. "If it meant nothing, then why didn't you tell us?" Dekka rolled his eyes. "I am not having this conversation. You both know that I love Astrid." He stood up and went to his own he wanted to do was forget that one stupid yet, he couldn't get it out of his head._Come to me_, it felt it. He felt it reaching his mind. The Darkness. The gaiaphage. Whatever it hadn't felt it in months, ever since he had tried to kill it with now it was calling out him. It wanted ignored it. The last time he had followed the Darkness, it had sent him into a crazed frenzy of dreams. And then it had influenced his thoughts. He had lost control of his own didn't want to become like that again. So he lay back down in his bed and waited for sleep to take didn't.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Astrid had arrived at the lake. She saw all the boats and tents. Everyone seemed like they were still asleep; the 'sun' was only just coming up.

It had been days since she had gone to the mineshaft. All she wanted now was a friendly face.

Then Astrid watched as Sanjit stepped off his large boat. He looked up and saw her.

She registered that he was shocked to see her, but walked towards him anyway.

"Hello." She said.

"Hi." He replied. He waited for her to speak.

"Do you know where Sam is?" She asked. Sanjit nodded.

They walked together to another large boat in the middle of the dock. Sanjit cleared his throat and knocked on the door. There was no answer for a while, so he knocked again.

Diana opened it. She only saw Sanjit first. "This better be an emergency." She said. Then she saw Astrid and gasped.

Astrid stared at her. "You're here? And on Sam's boat?" She asked incredulously.

Diana didn't answer. "So the prodigal girlfriend comes home. I'll go get Sam." She said. Astrid went inside after her and sat down on one of the dingy sofas in the living area. Sanjit stood awkwardly in the doorway.

Diana went into Sam's bedroom and opened the curtains. He moaned and pulled his covers over his head, trying to block out the light. "Sam," she said loudly, "you have to see this." He looked up at her, his eyes still adjusting to the light, and slowly got out of bed. He followed Diana to the living area.

"Hi, Sam." Astrid said quietly.

He stared at her in shock. Then he walked up to her and kissed her passionately.

Sanjit smiled at Diana and left, and Diana cleared her throat loudly. Sam and Astrid pulled apart.

"Sorry to break that up," she said, "but, um...Astrid, you're kind of bleeding." Diana pointed to her back.

Astrid tried to look over her shoulder. "Am I?" Sam turned her around so that he could see.

Then he looked at her, seriously. "Did you meet Drake when you were out there?" He asked. She had what was clearly a wound from being whipped. The back of her shirt was torn where Drake's tentacle had cut through it. Sam was just relieved to see that she was only whipped once.

Astrid looked back at him. "No. I never saw Drake."

Sam and Diana exchanged a glance. "You...never came across him?" Diana asked.

Astrid looked at her accusingly. "Why do you want to know?" She turned to Sam. "What is she doing here?"

Sam looked uncomfortable. He turned to face Astrid so that she would stop looking at Diana behind him. "I'll explain everything later. But first I think that we should get Lana to heal you and you can sleep. You need to rest."

Astrid nodded. Then she hugged him.

But Diana didn't miss the glare that was directed at her.

Astrid Ellison had changed.

Lana was asked to go to Sam's boat. Sanjit had told her that Astrid was back.

She was sitting on the sofa in Sam's living area. She looked...different. Lana couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She put her hand on Astrid's back and held it there until she had fully healed. Apparently she never remembered meeting Drake, but there was only one person who could leave a wound like this. Lana had healed many others like it.

Then she felt something as she healed Astrid. She felt something familiar.

But she ignored it, and left the boat when she was done. She felt uncomfortable being around this quiet, mysterious Astrid.

When Lana was done healing her, Astrid used some water to wash her face and arms and reluctantly changed into some clothes that Diana leant her. Then Sam led Astrid to his room and let her sleep there. He wondered if she would sleep there with him every night. He had a double bed, after all. But he knew that he had to give it time.

He loved her with all his heart. He knew that. He had completely forgotten about all the problems they had together. Sam couldn't believe that he had dwelt on some meaningless kiss with Diana. He sat by Astrid and watched her sleep for a while. Then Edilio came in.

He and Dekka had been filled in on the news. "Hey, man." He said quietly. "Are you still coming out to fish? We're leaving soon." He said. Sam nodded and reluctantly stood up. "And Dekka, Brianna and Jack are going back to the train to get the rest of the supplies." Edilio added.

Sam paused. "Wait, Dekka and Brianna are friends again?" He asked in a whisper.

Edilio looked confused. "Why wouldn't they be?" Sam quickly realised he may have said too much and shrugged. They left to go fishing.

Astrid's eyes flew open. Sam, Edilio and Dekka had left.

She stood up quickly and left Sam's room. She opened every other room door until she found Diana's.

Diana looked surprised when she came in. "Do you need something? I thought you were sleeping." She said, sitting upright on her bed.

Astrid shook her head slowly. "You're pregnant." She said.

"Yeah. Who told you?" Diana asked.

"Sanjit." Astrid said. They boll fell silent. Astrid sat down on Diana's bed. "You can't handle having a baby." She said.

Diana laughed softly. "I have a lot of support." She wanted to tell her that Sam was going to be her baby's father, but she stopped herself. It wasn't the right time for teasing.

"It's going to change you." Astrid said. She was staring at Diana in a strange way; like she was being cautious. "I think you need more support. This can be made easier for you." She was speaking in riddles.

Diana stood up. "I think you should go back to bed." She said.

Astrid smiled, but it looked fake. She stood up and went back to Sam's room, thinking.

Drake was happy again. The happiest he had ever been in his life.

He had failed his master, and he had been punished for it. He remembered the several days of immense agony and pain. He knew that Brittany did too.

But now his master trusted him. His master trusted that he would not make more mistakes.

The Darkness had sent Astrid first. But if Astrid failed, he would send Drake.

Drake knew that Astrid would fail. At least, he hoped she would.

She had only been given a few days to accomplish her task. That wasn't enough time.

So Drake waited out those days by the mine, close enough to his master, until Astrid came back. If she came back at all.

And then Drake would go and have his sweet revenge on Diana


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Diana knew that something was up. Sure; maybe Astrid was just crazy from spending days on her own in the wilderness, but it was more than that. She knew that it was something to do with the Darkness.

Astrid had been acting the same way that Caine had when he was being influenced; more subdued, mysterious. As if she had a plan but didn't quite know what for.

She was going to tell Sam - but what could he do? He had no direct experience with the Darkness.

So she went to Lana instead. "I think Astrid went to the mineshaft." She told her, trying to be subtle about it. Diana had heard about how Lana could snap at the mention of the Darkness.

Lana looked defeated. "I know." She said quietly. She looked helpless.

"You know? What do you mean, you know?" Diana asked, almost accusingly.

"I could feel it." Lana said quietly.

"But...can't you do anything? Talk to her?" Diana asked. She paused. "I think she's up to something."

Lana shook her head. "It's up to her to end it. I can't end it for her." Diana looked slightly annoyed. Lana sighed. "Look, when Caine was being influenced by the Darkness, and you tried to reason with him, what did he do?" She asked.

"He ignored me." Diana replied, understanding.

"We can't reason with her." Lana said. "She won't listen to us. All we can do is try to find out what she's planning."

Diana nodded. Lana was right.

And Diana was the best at finding out what people were up to.

Sam couldn't stop smiling. It had all felt like a dream.

She was back. She was finally back. He had barely lasted three weeks without her.

Edilio noticed him smiling. "I guess you're relieved, right?" He asked, smiling back at him.

Sam sighed. "Man, I don't know how I feel. I can't describe it. Relief, happiness, love-"

"Jeez, Sam." Dekka laughed; she had overheard him. "Keep going like this and Astrid won't want you anymore. You're turning into a girl." She teased. Sam laughed with her. He was overwhelmingly happy.

They didn't catch many fish, but then they had less mouths to feed at the lake and they didn't want to over-fish it. So they sailed back to the marina and stored the fish in a little hut which used to be the office of the dock and campsite manager.

Sam walked quickly back to his boat, leaving Edilio and Dekka trailing behind. He saw that Astrid was already awake. She was helping herself to a few crackers in the kitchen area.

"This is much nicer than what we used to have back in town." She said.

Sam smiled and sat down next to her. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

She sighed. "I'm OK." She paused. "I'm sorry for freaking out on you and leaving, Sam. I shouldn't have done that." She said.

He put his arm around her. "S'OK. I've just missed you."

Diana had walked onto the boat. "Yeah, you can say that again." She said.

Sam looked at her. "Where did you go?"

She shrugged. "I went for a walk." She half-smiled at Astrid and went to her room.

Astrid turned to Sam. "She was lying."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?" He asked.

Astrid scoffed. "Diana doesn't really seem like someone who would just go for a walk."

"I guess." He replied. "But we can't expect her to tell us everything. It's not like we're all best friends or anything."

Astrid nodded. "Yes, I suppose. But I think it's a bit more than that. It was just something she said..." She trailed off, and then looked at Sam as if she had said too much.

"What?" Sam prompted.

"I talked to her earlier. She just...she kept saying that this place was a hell-hole. That I shouldn't have come back."

Sam was confused. "She said you shouldn't have come back? And I thought she liked it here." He said.

Astrid looked at him. "I think she likes you, Sam. The way she was talking...she sounded kind of jealous." She looked down at her hands. "I think she more than likes you." She said.

Sam laughed softly at first, but then he saw that she was serious. "Wait - you think she's in love with me or something? Because I highly doubt that." He said.

"Sam, I know what I'm talking about. I'm good at reading people like that. And I don't know whether it's because you're a nicer version of Caine or something, but I think she loves you." She said, looking troubled.

Sam didn't like the way she said that. 'A nicer version of Caine'. He didn't like being associated with Caine, even though they were brothers.

Sam held her hand. "Look, it doesn't matter what Diana feels, because I would never be with her. I love you. And you can trust me." He said, trying not to remember when Diana kissed him.

Astrid looked up at him. "But Diana's the type of girl who can persuade anyone to like her." She said quietly. "Can't she just go back to her old boat? Just for my peace of mind?" She pleaded. Sam sighed.

"But it's safer if she's here. We can support and protect her." He paused. "You can trust me, I swear. I would never do anything with her." He said, feeling guilty.

Astrid looked upset. "Please, Sam? We can still support her. She'd still be safe. Please? For me?" Sam was going to say 'no', but she was looking up at him with her wide blue eyes and he found her hard to refuse.

So he nodded. "OK, fine. I'll go talk to her."

Astrid kissed him. "Thank you." She said.

Diana was shocked. "Oh." Was all she said.

Sam tried not to be awkward, but he couldn't stop asking himself; did Diana really love him? He found it so hard to believe. "Sorry." He replied.

She smiled. "I guess Astrid really doesn't like me."

"No, it's not that..." he started, but then dropped the lie. "Yeah, I guess. But, who knows? It might be temporary. She might have a change of heart." He tried to reassure her.

She shrugged. "It's OK, Sam. It's not that big a deal." She said. She had already started putting her few clothes into her bag.

"You'll still be safe." He replied.

"I know." She said. She looked up at him. "Did you mean it? When you said that you wanted to be like a father to my kid?"

"Yeah," Sam said, "of course I did. And I still will be. I just - maybe..." He trailed off. "I don't know." He sighed.

She smiled at him. It hadn't taken long to pack her belongings. She picked up her bag and headed back to her old, lonely boat, passing Astrid on the way out.

Astrid looked satisfied.


	13. READ THIS

So, first of all im sorry I forgot to mention THIS IS NOT MY STORY it belongs to a gaiaphage fanfiction writer but I loved it soooooooo much I had to put it on another site.


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